Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.
You sometimes have to sit in awe of what Georgia has done. The Bulldogs now have 43 consecutive regular season victories. Until this past Saturday, none of them had come by a three-point margin or smaller.
But every once in a while, Georgia has a weird performance, usually against Missouri or Kentucky. This year, it was Kentucky’s turn. Georgia won 13-12 in Lexington and needed a fourth-quarter comeback to do it, one week after Kentucky lost 31-6 to South Carolina and cost itself “College GameDay” hosting honors. Welcome to the weirdness of college football.
As a result, Texas moves up to No. 1 in this week’s edition of The Athletic 134, the third different No. 1 team we’ve had in four weeks. The Longhorns lost Quinn Ewers to injury against UTSA, one week after the quarterback’s dominant performance at Michigan. But his replacement Arch Manning didn’t miss a step, and actually took many himself, with four passing touchdowns and a 67-yard touchdown run. Only time will tell on Ewers’ status, but the Longhorns are rolling in all phases right now, even with the backup quarterback on the field. So they take the top spot.
But guess what? Almost exactly one month from today, we’ve got Georgia vs. Texas in Austin.
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Why Texas is the right No. 1 over Georgia: Behind the AP Top 25 ballot
These rankings are starting to find their level now. Almost every team has played at least one notable opponent. The wild swings will be fewer, though there are some this week (hello, Georgia State). The head-to-head results still play a heavy role at this point. The deeper into the season we get, the less transitive things will become.
Here is the Week 4 edition of The Athletic 134.
1-10
Along with Texas’ move up to No. 1, there are some slight tweaks here. Tennessee leapfrogs Miami to No. 5 because the Canes’ opening win against Florida doesn’t look as good as it did at the time. Tennessee’s win against NC State looks better now. Penn State also falls to No. 10 after Oregon got right in a 49-14 win at Oregon State and Missouri beat Boston College at home, a good win for the Tigers. Penn State’s win against West Virginia has also lost its shine as the Mountaineers are now 1-2.
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What we learned about the CFP in Week 3: How underrated is Tennessee?
11-25
Without many ranked matchups or upsets in Week 3, there are also only a few moves in this group. LSU slides up one spot to No. 14 after coming back to beat South Carolina on the road, while Kansas State beat Arizona 31-7 to move up to No. 15. Oklahoma drops two spots to No. 16, and the Sooners’ offensive issues are concerning, especially in the pass game, though the defense has been stout. Tennessee travels to Norman this week.
Welcome to the top 25, Illinois and UNLV. Both have wins over Kansas. The Illini have really taken care of business through three weeks, while the Rebels are 2-0 in Big 12 play with wins against Houston and KU.
26-50
Here come the shakeups. I really wanted to put Memphis in the top 25. They’ve played really well all season. They’re right there. But a win against Florida State just doesn’t mean what it used to (sorry, Noles — more on you later). Iowa slips to No. 29 after needing a second-half comeback to get past a winless Troy team.
Washington State shoots up to No. 34 after beating Washington to move to 3-0. The Cougs have two Power 4 wins, and quarterback John Mateer is a whole lot of fun. Louisville remains at No. 35 because the Cardinals have only played Austin Peay and winless Jacksonville State. UCF pushes up to No. 36 after a big comeback win at TCU.
Indiana fans were very upset the Hoosiers didn’t move much after putting up 77 points on a bad FCS team. I said I just needed to see them play better competition, like Louisville. Well, a 42-13 win at UCLA was what I wanted to see, so the Hoosiers jump from No. 82 to No. 38. Pitt makes a similar jump up to No. 39 after another fourth-quarter comeback win, this one against West Virginia, to move to 3-0.
Georgia State rockets up from No. 116 to No. 42 after beating Vanderbilt. I have a feeling this is Vandy falling back to earth, but with a limited sample size, this is what happens. So although Virginia Tech handled Old Dominion, the Hokies drop because that loss to Vandy was so recent. (Georgia State’s loss is to Georgia Tech.) Welcome to the top 50, No. 48 Toledo, after whipping Mississippi State 41-17.
51-75
I realize Liberty keeps winning and keeps dropping. The Flames, now at No. 52, just haven’t been playing up to their ranking. They didn’t play great against Campbell, needed a comeback against New Mexico State and were pedestrian against UTEP. Fresno State, meanwhile, beat New Mexico State 48-0 on Saturday. Texas State only slips one spot to No. 58 after a three-point home loss to Arizona State.
Wisconsin drops to No. 66 after a 42-10 loss to Alabama. I know it’s a steep drop for a loss to Alabama, but the Badgers have just not been good at any point this season, and they don’t get any benefit of the doubt. Duke is 3-0 but drops a few spots to No. 60 after needing a fourth-quarter comeback to beat UConn. Florida tumbles to No. 67 after an ugly loss to Texas A&M and its backup quarterback. Appalachian State falls to No. 69 after needing a second-half comeback against East Carolina in a 21-19 win.
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Billy Napier doesn’t blame Florida fans for boos as his prove-it season deteriorates
76-100
Baylor moves up a few spots to No. 76 after beating Air Force. No. 79 Houston may be rounding into competent form after following up a good performance against Oklahoma with a 33-7 win against Rice. Mississippi State looks like one of the worst Power 4 teams after getting drubbed by Toledo at home and dropping to No. 81. The same goes for UCLA, now at No. 86 after the blowout loss to Indiana to go with a last-second win against Hawaii.
But it’s even more true for Florida State, now at No. 87 as the only 0-3 team in the Power 4. The only reason the Seminoles aren’t lower is because they’ve played three pretty decent teams. But don’t lose to Cal next week and make it 0-4.
Western Kentucky is up to No. 88 after beating Middle Tennessee 49-21, looking like the WKU of old. Sam Houston continues to look improved after beating Hawaii and is now up to No. 94.
GO DEEPER
Navarro: Florida State’s 0-3 debacle is a product of poor evaluation, development
101-134
Not much change in this group, including at the bottom. Kent State was already No. 134, and the Golden Flashes might stay there for a bit. Trailing Tennessee 37-0 after one quarter and 65-0 at halftime, coming off an FCS loss, is as ugly as it gets.
The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)